The ongoing diligence of the Boston Police Department continues to pay off as officers recovered two more illegal firearms in a matter of hours from the streets of Boston yesterday afternoon. These seizures bring the total number of illegal crime guns taken off the streets of Boston to 406, year-to-date in 2014. A crime gun is defined as an illegal firearm used in the commission of a crime or confiscated in the course of an arrest. In addition to the above, 366 guns have been voluntarily turned in by community members taking advantage of the Boston Gun Buyback Program. In total, there are 772 fewer guns in the community thus far in 2014, as opposed to a total of 667 seized firearms in the year 2013.

The circumstances of the incidents are as follows:

Incident #1: At about 2:37 PM on Thursday, August 7, 2014, officers assigned to District B-3 (Mattapan) responded to a radio call for a person with a gun in the area of 15 West Main Street, Mattapan.

While on patrol, officers received the description of two teenaged males who had picked up a gun in the above area. Officers observed two males nearby fitting the description of the suspects and attempted to stop them for an inquiry. One suspect remained on-scene, while the second led officers on a foot-pursuit in the area of Catbird Street. Shortly, officers caught up to the suspect and recovered a loaded Ruger 22/45 MKIII .22 Caliber long rifle discarded along the suspect’s flight path.

The 16-year-old juvenile from Mattapan was arrested and charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Unlawful Possession of a High Capacity Feeding Device.

Incident #2: At about 5:49 PM on Thursday, August 7, 2014, members of the Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force conducted a motor vehicle stop that resulted in an onsite arrest in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Brunswick Street in District B-2 (Roxbury).

While on patrol in the above area, officers performed a random query on the registration of a motor vehicle in traffic in the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS). The query revealed that the vehicle registration status was unregistered. After further observation of said vehicle and witnessing a number of additional auto law violations, officers conducted a stop of the car and its operator. When officers observed a controlled substance in plain view on the operator’s person, the officers ordered the operator out of the vehicle. A frisk of the operator and area of the vehicle within the operator’s immediate reach revealed a loaded black KelTec Model P-32 handgun in the driver’s side door.

The operator, 22-year-old Rakim J. Smith-Larty of Somerville, was arrested and charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Possession of a Class A Drug, as well as numerous motor vehicle law infractions.